Hello, I plan to take AP Computer Science course next year as a Sophomore. What is the difference between Computer Science A and Computer Science Principles and which class is the heavier workload. Which class is also more impressive to colleges?
AP CS principles is a general overview of CS and how it relates to other subjects, and is suitable for those not intending to major in CS, those who are considering a major in CS (or some closely related subjects), and those who want to major in CS but have no experience.
AP CS A is programming and data structures for those intending to major in CS. It is generally considered more difficult than AP CS principles, but is probably less useful for most non-CS majors.
The level of difficulty definitely depends on the school and teachers. DD had about 15 hours of homework a week last year in AP CSP, but much less this year in AP CSA. She found AP CSP more useful and educational. YMMV.
AP CSA is pretty much java-based, where AP CSP was an overview of programming with an introduction to about six or seven programming languages. DD’s school requires AP CSP as a pre-requisite to AP CSA, but that isn’t the case everywhere.